Looters targeted French rail crash wreck while victims were on board

French police have said that looters robbed money and phones from victims of the rail crash outside Paris.

Gangs reportedly climbed onto the carriages and stole from the bodies of victims who were electrocuted or crushed to death.

A spokesman told The Sun: "At first it seemed they were trying to help. But it soon became clear they were taking personal property.

"When police approached they threw stones before running off."

According to the Daily Mirror, the crash site, which is located around 16 miles from the centre of Paris at Bretigny-sur-Orge station, is surrounded by wasteland used as a temporary camp for homeless people.

The crash on Friday evening saw six carriages derail with one overturning completely. Six people died in the crash and nearly 200 were injured.

France's transport minister Frederic Cuvillier ruled out "human error" and a spokesman for SNCF, the national railway company, said a plate had worked itself loose which "may have caused the derailment".